Funded in 2007-08

In the seventh round of Graduate Student Life Grants, Dean Steve Lerman funded 16 new proposals out of the total 27 submitted to the Graduate Students Office. To date, since this program was introduced in 2002, the Dean’s selection panel has reviewed 186 proposals and funded 111 of those.

RFP6-4 Graduate Student/MIT Club of Boston gatherings at Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) Club Café Concerts(renewal)

Partnering with BMOP, the Council for the Arts has arranged special performances of modern classical music concerts in a cabaret setting in downtown Boston. For a modest co-pay, students enjoy a catered dinner and unique concert performance. The event is for graduate students and local MIT alumni.

For more information, please visit the BMOP Website.
To reserve tickets, contact Susan Cohen at x3-4006.

Date of next concert: Tuesday, March 11, 2008

RFP6-13 Painless networking(renewal)

Mannersmith, Inc.’s etiquette consultant presides over an event that teaches how to handle business and formal social situations, from conferences to cocktail parties, with poise and confidence. This follows on the Gracious Dining seminar of spring 2007.

For more information about reserving a spot, please contact: the VP for Residential Life at Sidney-Pacific at sp-vp-reslife [at] mit [dot] edu.

Date and venue: Thursday, April 10, 2008, SP Multipurpose Room

RFP6-15 Graduate Brunch Series(renewal)

A joint effort of Sidney-Pacific(SP) and Ashdown House, the brunch series is held on Sundays and is open to the entire graduate community, both on and off campus students. While these regularly scheduled brunches commonly attract several hundred students, attendees never leave hungry!

For more information about the SP brunches, please contact the SP Brunch Chair at sp-brunch-chair [at] mit [dot] edu or the SP President at sp-president [at] mit [dot] edu.

For more information about the Ashdown brunches, please contact the Ashdown Brunch Committee at ashdown-brunch [at] mit [dot] edu or the Ashdown House Executive Committee Chair at ahec-chair [at] mit [dot] edu.

These event series offers student cultural groups an opportunity to transform the Muddy Charles Pub into their home countries or regions of the world for a night. The pub provides matching funds (up to $300) to enable student groups to purchase ethnic food and decorations for their events.

This weekly interdisciplinary series of seminars, operated by graduate students for graduate students, introduces students to research at MIT that is outside their main field of interest. The goal of the seminars is to inspire creative collaborations and advances in research by exposing students to “leading edge” ideas from other fields.

RFP7-2 CDO Community Building Series

The interdepartmental, interdisciplinary master’s degree program, Computation for Design and Optimization, plans opportunities for students to interact in formal and informal events designed as a series (e.g., “learning from your peers dinners) in order to build internal community and increase awareness of the program throughout the greater MIT community.

For more information, please contact the GSLG Community Fellow at grants-fellow [at] mit [dot] edu.

RFP7-3 Classical Music Events at Edgerton House

A series of music related events in the housemasters’ residence open to students from all graduate residences. This new program will tap musical talent from the community and develop collaborations with other cultural programs on campus.

RFP7-4 Community Involvement Support for Graduate Student Families

This program provides childcare for students and their families, enabling them to attend meetings to tackle quality of life issues at Westgate as well as other issues that directly impact graduate student families at MIT.

RFP7-5 Contemplative Life Initiative

Open to all graduate students, this initiative offers weekly meditation and discussion sessions, providing instruction based on classic and contemporary texts. In addition, guest speakers will deliver lectures designed to connect mediation with the real world, through scientific studies, analysis, and personal experience.

RFP7-7 Cultural Coffee Hours

This program is an intimate forum where students from a variety of nationalities can meet and learn about one another’s cultures and traditions. Cultural coffee hours with desserts and snacks are the venue at Sidney-Pacific (SP).

For more information, please contact the VP for Residential Life at Sidney-Pacific at sp-vp-reslife [at] mit [dot] edu.

RFP7-8 Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) at the Math Department

In anticipation of the annual competition with Harvard’s math department, MIT’s math department is setting up practice space in a basement room and planning an event to demonstrate the technique, recruit team members, and provide refreshments. On an ongoing basis, this facility is free and open for dance practice.

For more information, please contact the GSLG Community Fellow at grants-fellow [at] mit [dot] edu.

RFP7-9 Difficult Conversations: How to make progress and get results

Viewed as a pilot project, this workshop series teaches participants a step-by-step approach to prepare for and conduct effectively their most challenging conversations. The target population for the workshop includes all graduate student leaders.

For more information, please contact the GSLG Community Fellow at grants-fellow [at] mit [dot] edu.

RFP7-11 Empowering MIT Students for Global Impact

The concept of applying systems dynamics and business tools to clinical practice in the developing world is a novel one. The project’s purpose is to implement a series of interdisciplinary talks, seminars, and workshops to engage the graduate community in such application to healthcare projects in Rwanda.

For more information, please contact the GSLG Community Fellow at grants-fellow [at] mit [dot] edu.

RFP7-12 Exploring Culture in Boston Series

This series of event fuels interactions among graduate students outside the academic setting through an introduction to culture in Boston—music, theatre, fine arts, and sports. Group outings take advantage of central planning and free or student tickets.

RFP7-13 MIT Friends of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

The departments of math and physics plan events that include monthly interdepartmental dinners (catered at MIT) followed by outings to symphony concerts. Approximately 50 students will be accommodated at each event.

RFP7-14 Grad Hillel Freedom Seder

This program views social and political issues through both a “Jewish and universal lens” in the form of a large scale Jewish Passover Seder open and advertised to all students. The goal is to foster community through a night of shared learning and discussion on a variety of issues such as poverty, racism, and genocide.

For more information, please contact the GSLG Community Fellow at grants-fellow [at] mit [dot] edu.

RFP7-15 MIT Graduate Student Gala Reception:

Encouraged by the success of events earlier in 2007, a team representing Edgerton House and the Graduate Student Council, are planning a reception to precede the Grad Gala in 2008. Anticipated attendance is well over 500 students.

For more information, please contact the GSLG Community Fellow at grants-fellow [at] mit [dot] edu.

Date: Saturday, May 3, 2008 (prior to the Grad Gala)

RFP7-17 The Great American Melting Pot

This program proposes to stimulate conversation among graduate students on the theme of diversity and inclusiveness within the Biological Engineering Department. Fondue dinners for 50 or so participants reinforce the theme of “melting pot.”

For more information, please contact the GSLG Community Fellow at grants-fellow [at] mit [dot] edu.

RFP7-18 Human Rights Movie Series

This series of movies and talks by prominent experts reaches beyond the scientific aspects of development to embrace the theme of human rights and development. Dinners that precede the movie are opportunities for further conversation.

RFP7-22 MIT Pledge Effort: December Follow-up Dinner for Pledge Students

The pledge effort encourages MIT students to practice social and environmental responsibility in their college lives and future careers. At a dinner discussion for approximately 40 students who have taken the pledge, students will discuss the socio-environmental issues they have identified.

For more information, please contact the GSLG Community Fellow at grants-fellow [at] mit [dot] edu.

RFP7-27 Where Does Your Food Come From?

This intent of this program is to increase awareness about personal food choices among graduate students at MIT and connect these choices to broader food policy. This dinner series will serve as a forum for interdisciplinary discussion and learning.

For more information, please contact the GSLG Community Fellow at grants-fellow [at] mit [dot] edu.